In the Philippines, a pervasive culture of migration has led millions to seek opportunities abroad, particularly since an economic downturn in the 1970s. The government has long embraced exporting labor as official economic policy, but over time, the focus has shifted: first to protecting workers overseas and much more recently to linking migration and development. This article explores the evolution of Filipino migration policy and trends.

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In the Philippines, a pervasive culture of migration has led millions to seek opportunities abroad, particularly since an economic downturn in the 1970s. The government has long embraced exporting labor as official economic policy, but over time, the focus has shifted: first to protecting workers overseas and much more recently to linking migration and development. This article explores the evolution of Filipino migration policy and trends.

Hong Kong is home to more than 340,000 foreign domestic workers, who can be found in one of every seven households. Despite efforts by the governments of Hong Kong and top sending countries, these workers remain uniquely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. This article examines the conditions foreign domestic workers face, the policies governing their employment, and the challenges in protecting their rights.

With more than 1.8 million immigrants living in the United States, the Philippines was the fourth largest country of origin in 2013. Filipino immigrants stand out from other top immigrant groups with their unique historical experience as former nationals due to U.S. annexation of the Philippines in 1899, close historic ties to the U.S. military, and prevalence in health-care professions.

For many developing countries, migrants are considered valuable contributors to future development. As proof of their commitment, they have invested in diaspora institutions with responsibilities ranging from protecting migrants to encouraging investment. MPI's Dovelyn Rannveig Agunias analyzes 45 such institutions across 30 countries and breaks them down by type.

HTAs are active throughout the United States, Europe, and parts of East Asia. Manuel Orozco and Rebecca Rouse of the Inter-American Dialogue provide an overview of HTAs and look at the development role they play.

An estimated 8.1 million Filipinos — nearly 10 percent of the country's population — are living in close to 200 countries and territories. Maruja M.B. Asis of the Scalabrini Migration Center-Philippines explains how the country developed its emigration policies and measures to protect its citizens abroad.

This report by MPI and the Asian Development Bank lays out a realistic roadmap toward freer movement among skilled professionals within the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), encouraging cooperation among ASEAN Member States in recognizing foreign qualifications and making government investments in training and educations systems that prepare workers in accordance with common standards.

This report dispels the perception that flows between Australia and the ASEAN region are headed in one direction: to Australia. Using unpublished administrative data, the authors sketch a complex picture of skilled Australian emigration to ASEAN, significant temporary movements of skilled workers in both directions, and close connections between the two regions even after migrants permanently return to their country of origin.

Migrants from the Philippines and Sri Lanka have taken on a growing role in filling labor shortages in Jordan, leading to significant challenges surrounding the recruitment of these foreign workers. Based on interviews with government officials in sending and receiving countries and focus groups with migrants, the report analyzes the role of private recruitment agencies and points to oversight gaps.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the third-largest destination for Filipino migrants, with private recruitment agencies in both countries managing the flow of 200,000 Filipino workers who head there annually. This report examines the recruiters’ practices as well as their regulation by the Philippine and UAE governments, offering recommendations to strengthen the system of oversight.

This brief offers an analysis of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Philippines’ highly successful system of managing the overseas employment of temporary Filipino workers. The report examines the structure and mechanism of the system, identifies key areas of improvement, and offers policy recommendations for addressing existing flaws.

This brief outlines the key policy challenges governments and other stakeholders face in addressing the health needs of Asian labor migrants. It highlights the obstacles migrant workers face in accessing health facilities and services at various stages of migration, before proposing five key steps for translating the growing interest in migrant health issues to visible changes on the ground.

This issue brief examines Asian labor migration to the Middle East—a region distinguished by its major dependence on migrant workers, the overwhelming majority from Asia. The author focuses on the role of private recruiting agencies as key facilitators of temporary labor migration and perpetrators of exploitative practices.

Predeparture orientation programs have emerged as an important tool for the protection of migrant workers for a number of Asian states. This brief examines the strengths, limitations, and areas for improvement of this intervention.

This brief explores how governments in Asia are facilitating diaspora contributions, including creation of conducive legal frameworks and diaspora-centered institutions to initiation of programs that specifically target diasporas as development actors.

International labor migration has become vital to economic development in Asian countries, but for children and families left behind, it can also at times create a negative influence on health, break down family and social cohesion, and increase the burden on health systems, as this MPI-IOM issue brief explores.

The Philippines has the most sophisticated labor-exporting model in the world, with 1.8 million temporary workers deployed in 2014 alone. This issue in brief reviews the impacts of the Philippines’ successful labor export policy on skills development and human capital growth within the country.

This book explores how developing-country governments have institutionalized ties with emigrants and their descendents. It offers an unprecedented taxonomy of 45 diaspora-engaging institutions found in 30 developing countries, exploring their activities and objectives. It also provides important practitioner insights from Mali, Mexico, and the Philippines.